Siliguri: Kanu Sanyal, the legendary
founder of the Naxalite movement of the 60s in West Bengal,
that heralded a violent struggle and had claimed thousands of
lives, died on Tuesday, apparently by committing suicide.
78-year-old Sanyal, a bachelor, was found hanging
in his room at his residence in Seftullajote village, 25 km
from here, Inspector General of Police (North Bengal) K L
Tamta said.
He was suffering from age-related ailments of which
kidney and prostate problems were severe.
At the time of his death, he was General Secretary of
a new CPI(Marxist-Leninist) group, formed by the merger of
several splinter groups of the original party.
Along with co-Chairman Charu Mazumdar and Jungal
Santhal, Sanyal formed the dreaded triad that gave birth to
the Naxalbari movement, which in the later years had
transformed into the even bloodier Maoists struggle but he had
openly disapproved of the strategy of armed struggle after his
release from jail in 1977.
The trio spearheaded the movement which began with a
peasant uprising at Naxalbari, a small village, on May 25,
1967 in North Bengal.
The then Officer-in-Charge of Phansidewa police
station Amarendranath Pyne was killed by an arrow shot by the
Naxalites, as they came to be known, thus starting a series of
killings of landowners, policemen and those associated with
the establishment.
As founder, he had formally announced the formation at
the Sahid Minar in Kolkata on April 22, 1969.
In the early days of the Naxalite movement, Sanyal was
portrayed as a "great revolutionary" in opposition to the
"peaceful" cadres of the Communist Party of India and the
Communist Party of India (Marxist).
The Naxal movement, which also spread its tentacles to
some other parts of India, including Andhra Pradesh, was
widely believed to have secured support from the Communist
regime in China to further its goals and Sanyal had no
hesitation in saying it in public. But whether actually they
had received support from the Chinese was always in the realm
of speculation.
As one of the key leaders behind the Naxalite
insurrection through violent means, Sanyal and other top
functionaries were most of the time underground.
Then came the elections in 1972 when Congress had
come to power under Siddartha Shankar Ray in West Bengal.
The Congress dispensation had ruthlessly come down on
the Naxalbari movement whose back was broken but the Naxalites
regrouped only to become Maoists of various shades in later
years and also to spread over several states.
In the wake of the failure of the Naxal uprising,
Sanyal went into hiding and had claimed to have given up
violent struggle after the death of Charu Mazumdar.
He was arrested in August 1970 in the famous
Parvathipuram conspiracy case and was jailed in Visakhapatnam
in Andhra Pradesh.
Sanyal was released from jail at the intervention of
late Jyoti Basu, who had just taken over as Chief Minister of
the Left Front government in West Bengal in 1977.
In 1985, Sanyal and his supporters along with five
other groups merged to form the Communist Organisation of
India (Marxist-Leninist). Years later, he was also to oppose
the land acquisition in Singur for Tata`s cheap car project.
Last of the surviving Naxal triad
Kanu Sanyal lit the fire of a
violent revolution along with two other members of the Naxal
triad out of a peasant uprising in West Bengal in the late 60s
although in later years he shunned his own anarchist past.
As he battled senility, age and a blurring eyesight, the
bachelor 78-year-old founding leader of the Communist Party of
India (Marxist-Leninist) abhorred violence unleashed by
present day Maoists.
He was the last surviving member of the Naxalite triad
that included another legendary revolutionary and
comrade-in-arms Charu Majumdar and Jungle Santhal.
The three were behind the abortive Naxalite insurrection
attempt by radical Communist to initiate an "Indian
revolution" by violent means.
He was a critic of land acquisition by the Left Front
government in Singur and Nandigram and criticised it
calling it capitalist.
Sanyal believed that led by selfless and strong
leadership, the protests in Nandigram had the potential to
surpass even the Naxalbari movement.
"Maoism is not the path of Naxalbari. The violence
being indulged in can`t solve things. I don`t support this,"
he had said of the stepped up violence by Maoists.
"There is distinctive difference between our way of
revolution to that being pursued in name of Maoism," he had
said dubbing Maoists as people without ideals and direction.
Born in Kurseong in 1932, Sanyal while working as a
revenue clerk at the Siliguri court, was first arrested for
waving a black flag at then West Bengal Chief Minister Bidhan
Chandra Roy, to protest the Centre`s ban on the CPI.
He was lodged at the Jalpaiguri jail, where he met
Majumdar, who was then a CPI district secretariat member.
Influenced by Majumdar`s ideology, Sanyal joined the
CPI after his release, and later sided with the CPI-M after
the party split over the Indo-China war.
He together with Mazumdar and another leader however,
became disillusioned with the CPI(M) and broke away to found
the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) in 1969 aiming
at an `Indian revolution through armed struggle`.
The Naxalite movement, started by the three, earlier
began from a peasant uprising in Naxalbari village May 25,
1967 when the then officer-incharge of Phansidewa police
station Amarendranath Pyne was shot dead by an arrow.
Sanyal announced the formation of the CPI(ML) on
Vladimir Lenin`s birthday in 1969 at a public rally in
Kolkata.
The CPI-ML believed in capturing power by violent
means and carrying out political assassinations by targeting
`enemies of the proletariat`. They also conducted raids on
banks and armouries to build up resources.
He was arrested yet again in August 1970 which led to
widespread violence.
Sanyal was imprisoned in at Visakhapatnam in the
Parvatipuram Naxalite Conspiracy case after being convicted.
He was released from jail in 1977 at the personal
intervention of then chief minister Jyoti Basu.
After his release Sanyal publicly bid farewell to the
original strategy of armed struggle of the CPI(ML).
The death of Charu Majumdar in 1972 after his arrest
was followed by the breakup of the Naxalite movement with
Sanyal saying he was renouncing violence for parliamentary
practice. Jungle Santhal also subsequently died.
He formed the Organising Committee of Communist
Revolutionaries after his release. He later merged the OCCR
with the Communist Organisation of India-Marxist-Leninist.
Sanyal later became the general secretary of the
revamped CPI-ML, which was formed when several like-minded
groups came together to form the Left-wing organisation.
PTI
